Shock absorbing members formed from molded foam members such as hard polyurethane foams are attached to automobile doors in order to absorb impact energy in the event of a side-on collision.
Structures have been proposed for improving shock absorption performance by providing a rigid member with higher rigidity than a molded foam member at an impact receiving face of the molded foam member. For example, shock absorbing members exist that have a structure in which a molded foam member is affixed to one face of a rigid member such as an iron plate.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2011-121485 describes a configuration in which a molded foam member is formed at both faces of an iron plate in a structure in which the iron plate is provided with through holes, through which foam moldable resin flows.
In such a configuration, increasing the opening surface area of the through holes provided to the iron plate, or increasing the number of the through holes, may be considered as a way of improving the flow characteristics of a foamable synthetic resin inside the mold cavity during manufacture. However, this would reduce the rigidity and strength of the iron plate, leading to concerns of a reduction in the shock absorption performance of the shock absorbing member.
Alternatively, a manufacturing method may be considered in which the molded foam members to be disposed at the front side and back side of the iron plate are formed separately, and the molded foam members are then stacked with the iron plate, and integrated together using an adhesive or the like. However, in such cases, there are concerns of positional displacement arising between respective portions of the molded foam members, and between respective portions of the molded foam members and the iron plate, as well as concerns of a reduction or variability in the joint strength to the molded foam members, when stacking and integrating together the respective portions of the separately formed molded foam members and the iron plate.